1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of packaging fragile articles and has particular reference to an improved paper wrapper for protectively packaging fluorescent lamps, and to the improved package which the wrapper provides.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well-known in the art, fluorescent lamps are generally protected from breakage during shipment and handling by an open-ended wrapper or sleeve or corrugated paper that is slipped over the lamp in the factory before the lamps are loaded into the shipping cartons. Such wrappers have four walls, are either square or rectangular in cross-section and, in either case, are dimensioned to effect a snug fit with the lamp envelopes and thus be frictionally locked in place. A wrapper of this type having paired walls of unequal width which define a rectangular cross-sectioned compartment is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,235 issued Nov. 4, 1969 to J. E. Mills et al. Cartons having inturned hinged elements that serve as separators for a pair of nested light bulbs or as spacer means for a single bulb or radio tube are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,654,472; 2,870,949; 3,053,431, and 3,355,011.
While the prior art "slip-over" wrapper prevented the fluorescent lamps from contacting one another and breaking during shipment, additional protection against the danger of the lamp additionally slipping out of the wrapper while being handled by store personnel or prospective customers at the retail level would be highly desirable and advantageous for obvious reasons.